The battle of Itex
by believerofthegods
Summary: Hang on, because Max is in for her wildest ride yet! The secret of Itex leads to a full fledged battle between the good mutants and the bad. Fax, fluffy stuff, and more Fax.
1. Ambush

This is my second fanfic so please no flames

**This is my second fanfic so please no flames. It is based after the end of the 4****th**** book. Adventure, suspense, thrill, and of course, Fax. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. The characters belong to James Patterson. I just like to mess with them a little. **

"Ugh." I muttered into my arm as I woke up from my dream.

I won't bore you with all the details: it wasn't good, just depressing. I groaned loudly and rolled onto my side, my back pressed against the cool cave wall. A dark figure was at the mouth of the cave, tinkering with a small object.

"Gazzy, put the bomb away." I ordered as he glanced at me with his big, blue, innocent eyes.

"What bomb?" He asked, pretending he didn't have anything. "Max, I just couldn't sleep."

I glared at him, but inside, felt sorry for the gasman. He had been through a lot for an 8 year old kid. Then again, we'd all been through a lot.

"C'mon Gazzy." I said, my gaze softening a bit as I ruffled his unruly Mohawk. "Try to get some sleep."

He nodded. "Okay, Max." He trudged to the back of our small cave in the Appalachian Mountains and sat down hard.

"Hey, sweetie," I said, walking over to him and giving his hand a big squeeze. "It's going to be alright. We'll make it through. Remember, theres always a plan."

Years of lying with a straight face helped me say that. He just nodded, but I saw a gleam of hope in his eyes.

"Good night, Max."

"'Night, sweetie."

He turned over on his side and was soon breathing deeply.

I checked out the rest of the flock, and for once, everything seemed to be in the right place. Akilla was sleeping curled up next to Angel, who was slowly morphing in and out of her bird girl form. Iggy was sleeping with his hand on Nudge's shoulder, a bit of drool escaping from the corner of his mouth. Nudge was mumbling something about last names and peanuts, and on the far side of the cave was Fang. I could only see where he was because of the laptop floating off the ground, a soft glow coming from its screen. Then, of course, there was Total. He was lying smack dead in the center of the cave, snoring loudly and occasionally talking about the coffee in France, as his baby wings flapped with each breath. I sighed, and lay down next to Fang, and closed my eyes.

_Connections are good, Max. _Great, I thought. The Voice was back.

Voice, hello, you're back I see, and even more cryptic and annoying. Is there anything else that is utterly confusing to say? Good. Now, I'm going to get some sleep.

_Max…_ the Voice began.

Sayonara! And what do you have against global warming anyway? I knew the Voice well enough to know that it would not answer. Now then, I thought briskly. Back to sleep-

_You are hunted, Maximum Ride. You will not last long if you don't complete your mission soon. Start at the Itex branch in Maine. You will know where to go from there._

The inhuman voice faded from my head and I rolled my eyes. I had defied death and impossible odds before. The Voice really knew how to make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Most people would worry about those words, but I wasn't most people. I glanced at the outside of the cave. I only had a couple more hours of rest. Curling up beside Fang, I closed my eyes and slept.

The star like things the asterisk thingys

The second time I woke up, I felt fresh and wide awake. Jumping to my feet, I made a fire where Gazzy had been playing nuclear scientist last night.

"Everybody get up!" I yelled, smashing together two rocks. "We're leaving soon! Let's go, go, GO!"

When I woke everybody up, I liked to do it with a bang. Everyone sprang to their feet, ready for action.

"Oh my god, Max!" Nudge began, taking a big breath. "I had the coolest dream! Itex and all the people that wanted to kill us disappeared! We all found our parents and lived together in a big house!"

I smiled at Nudge, letting her enjoy her fantasy.

"That would be awesome, Nudge."

Iggy walked over to the fire and asked "Do you want me to take over?" indicating the scrambled eggs with his hand.

"Sure." I said, feeling relief to handing the job to Iggy. He actually knew how to cook. Then something occurred to me. "Iggy, how did you know where the breakfast was?"

He frowned concentrating for a long moment as he glanced in the direction of the eggs. A smile slowly started to creep onto his face.

"I can see yellow! That's awesome! Max, do you think that over time I'll be able to see completely?"

"I hope so!" I yelled to him, grinning from ear to ear as the rest of the flock clustered around and congratulated him.

Everyone was so happy for him; he got a part of everyone's food. I laughed along with the rest, throwing in a bit of bacon too, but something was wrong. I glanced at Fang, and he gave a slight nod. I tapped the back of Iggy's hand twice and started walking stiffly towards the cave entrance. The others, catching the drift, followed. The Voice's words came back to me and I started to run.

"Up and away!" I shouted over my shoulder as my wings snapped open and I jumped into the air. Even in danger, it still felt great to fly like this. I looked down and saw about 50 invisible warriors, gleaming slightly in the suns early glow. And to make things better, they all had machine guns.

"Angel, can you mess with their minds?" I asked hopefully looking at her as bullets whistled by my head.

"I'll try!" she yelled at me, but didn't look very confident.

"Guys, don't fight, run! Gazzy, now would be a good time to use your odorous power for distraction!" I yelled to the flock. "Fang, how is Akilla doing?"

"Fine." He answered. "Total is really helping!"

Total was flying below Akilla, pushing her back legs into the air. A cloud of sickly green colored gas billowed into the air, courtesy of the gasman.

"Whew!" I yelled, pinching my nose. "Nice one, Gazzy!"

He turned and nodded at me as we flew above the cloud, which had coated the ground like a thick fog. I laughed.

"Suckers!"

The flock nodded, laughing too.

"Let's go, guys. We're going to the Itex branch in Maine."

They looked confused, but nodded.

Well, Voice. It looks like you really meant it. I thought.

**If it was bad, then sorry! Fax next chapter! Please review this! Check my bio for when new chapters come out. Thanks!**


	2. Voice

Ok, this story is gonna have a bunch of remodeling

**Ok, this story is gonna have a bunch of remodeling. From this chapter on, it will have more attitude from Max that all of you love and other things that I can't tell you yet…anyway, chapter 2, please R/R enjoy!**

I read Fang's blog over his shoulder, commenting every few seconds on how dedicated his fans were.

"If you need any help, just ask?" I snickered. "What could one person do to help us? They'd wet their pants if they even saw a picture of an Eraser!"

Fang looked at me, his black eyes mucho serious. "You can't save the world by yourself, Max. We need all the help we can get."

That stung. Fang didn't think I could save the world by myself! But I wouldn't let him see that that got to me. Glaring, I shot him the bird.

"I can save the world by myself, and we don't need deranged teenagers with runny noses trying to 'help' us." I said Icily. How's that for rapier wit?

"Just forget it, ok?" Fang sighed and rubbed his temples. "Let's go for a spin."

I narrowed my eyes at him. This wasn't like Fang to give up an argument. "Sure," I said slowly, watching him for any emotion, but his dark eyes revealed nothing.

He nodded, and I flinched. The old Fang, I would have trusted him. I would have thrown myself in front of a train to save him, and vice versa. I hated this new, closed in Fang, where we didn't trust each other.

_Maybe it's because you have feelings for him that things are changing_

Hey Voice! Long time no annoy. I hoped the Voice could see my inner self mentally rolling her eyes. Wisely, (wow, that's a first) the Voice shut up.

In unison, we jumped out of our trees, and unfurled our wings. Ouch! My back was tight. Sitting in a tree was not a good way to sleep and predictably, I was not a happy camper.

We swooped low to the ground, trying to blend with the forest below. Yeah, just don't notice two freaks of nature flying over your tent! That's us, all part of our big mutant freaks with wings package.

"Down there." I said, pointing to a small gap between a few trees. "That place gives me an idea…" Oh man, I was bad. I grinned mischievously; I hadn't had this much fun in a while.

Fang nodded and swooped through the gap, and I followed, all stealthy wings.

This was going to be soooo good… and I stopped, because the barrel of a rifle was less than an inch away from my face. Two guys, (and by the odor coming off them they were drunk) were staring at me with hunting jackets on and long lethal looking knives strapped to their thighs. They were grinning from ear to ear, apparently, they hadn't noticed Fang, because just after he landed, he became still and blended into the trees, invisible.

"Alright," I said in a commanding tone "put down the rifle and no one will get hurt."

One of the guys leaned forward, his long, greasy nose centimeters from my face.

"I don't think so, chick. You're coming with us."

Mistake number one.

"And why would I do that?" I said in my bored voice, examining my finger nails.

"Because I told you to. Come on, we probably won't bite."

Mistake number two.

"If I say no?"

"Oh, you're coming," He said, adjusting his hold on the gun. "If you don't come nicely, then we'll use force."

Mistake number three and bam, you're out. I jumped straight up into the air, grabbing the gun between my powerful legs and wrenching it from the jerk's grip. I threw the gun over my shoulder to Fang and without missing a beat, gave jerk numero I a kick in the chest, flooring him instantly. I then spun behind jerk II and gave a chop to his neck downing him instantly. Two grownups facing an angry Max? No contest. Note to self: Crack up later.

"Come on," I said to Fang as one of the men stirred at my feet. "Let's leave these losers before we have to kick some serious butt."

He nodded and we took off, heading southwest back to the flock.

Flying in close formation, our wings almost touching, it happened.

A dull pain started building up in my temples, becoming more excruciating every second. I looked at Fang and saw his hands wrapped around his head, his face a mask of pain.

"This is bad." He nodded, barely keeping his wings beating.

Then the pain welling up burst and I yelled, images of mushroom clouds and chunks of computer code streaming through my head. I felt myself falling in slow motion, my wing breaking only a dull throb as a tunnel of blackness engulfed my vision.

**Like it? Hate it? Please review! The next chapter comes soon! Thanks, believerofthegodsx**


	3. Hallmark

Kay, chapter 3 is up

**Kay, chapter 3 is up. I really need more reviews! PLZ!! Anyway, here we go.**

I was standing on clouds, facing an outline of a person that was flashing in a rainbow of colous. Call hallmark! A new card idea! The figure beckoned with it's hand and the clouds vanished. I was hovering in the air, overlooking a battle raging in a vast, metal room. There were no doors, no escape. Claustrophobia began building up in me, my palms becoming sweaty.

"Max!" an expressionless voice called from below.

I looked down and saw more hallmark mimicers, but then my heart stopped. One of the rainbow snatchers was oozing red from a wound. The wound was one solid colour, black. The worst part was, the 5 below me, including the injured had outlines of wings on their backs.

"Crap." I said, with my natural talent for underestimating the danger of a situation.

The mutants suddenly keeled over, clutching their heads. The rest was drowned out by a flash of red surrounding my vision. The last words I heard were:

_Time to die, Maximum._

The worst part, that voice, was _the_ Voice. And I recognized it. What did this mean?

**I'm so sorry it's brief. Please give me some reviews!**


End file.
